Bucks escape with overtime playoff victory over Heat in Game 1 on Middleton’s game-winner
The Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks spent the days leading up to their first-round playoff series insisting that last postseason’s matchup had nothing to do with what was about to happen.
Well, this playoff series already has a different feel.
Last year? The then-fifth-seeded Heat eliminated the then-top-seeded Bucks in a 4-1 second-round upset in the Walt Disney World bubble. Miami won the first three games of that series.
This year? The third-seeded Bucks pulled ahead 1-0 in their first-round series against the sixth-seeded Heat, escaping with a narrow 109-107 overtime victory in an ultra-competitive Game 1 at Fiserv Forum on Saturday afternoon.
Game 2 of the series is Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Fiserv Forum (Bally Sports Sun, TNT).
“It was two teams that aren’t going to give any ground in terms of the competitive spirit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s probably going to come down to those plays in between. Loose ball here, loose ball there and taking care of the ball. They had some relief transition opportunities that really probably ended up being the separators in this game.”
It was a close game throughout, with 17 lead changes and 16 ties. The fourth quarter included eight lead changes and six ties alone.
But with the score tied at 107 in overtime, Bucks forward Khris Middleton hit a game-winning fadeaway midrange jumper over Duncan Robinson to put Milwaukee ahead by two points with 0.5 seconds left in the extra period.
“It’s about as good as you can get,” Spoelstra said of Robinson’s coverage on Middleton on the game-winner. “He made a really tough shot right there. Sometimes they can be make or miss.”
With little time left on the clock, Heat star Jimmy Butler attempted a rushed three-pointer that was blocked. But the shot came just after the overtime buzzer sounded anyway.
In regulation, it was the Heat that made the final shot.
Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo made two of his final four free throws of the fourth quarter to put the Bucks ahead by two points with nine seconds left. But Butler forced overtime, as he drove past Antetokounmpo for a game-tying layup over the outstretched hands of Bucks 7-footer Brook Lopez at the fourth-quarter buzzer.
Miami lost despite outscoring Milwaukee 60-15 from three-point range. The Heat shot 20 of 50 from deep, setting a new franchise playoff record with 20 made threes, and the Bucks shot just 5 of 31 on threes.
But Milwaukee made up for its cold outside shooting by outscoring Miami 56-24 in the paint. The Heat shot just 6 of 16 at the rim against the Bucks’ protect-the-paint-first defense.
Antetokounmpo finished with 26 points on 10-of-27 shooting from the field, 0-of-3 shooting on threes and 6-of-12 shooting from the foul line, 18 rebounds and five assists. Middleton scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including the game-winner.
The Heat’s two stars Bam Adebayo and Butler could not find an offensive rhythm, as they combined for just 26 points on 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) shooting. Adebayo recorded nine points on 4-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes, and Butler finished with 17 points on 4-of-22 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 shooting on threes, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 46 minutes.
Heat veteran guard Goran Dragic scored a team-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Duncan Robinson totaled 24 points and tied a franchise playoff record with seven made threes.
The Heat is now faced with overcoming a 1-0 hole in the first round. On the way to the NBA Finals last season in the bubble, Miami did not suffer its first playoff defeat until its eighth game of the postseason — a Game 4 loss to Milwaukee in the second round.
“This is definitely going to be a cage fight,” Adebayo said of the series. “We’ve been preparing for a cage fight all season through COVID, through protocols, dudes in and out of the lineup. We’ve built preparation for this.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 5:11 PM.
